"Your Majesty, would you like to reconsider the appointment of a Grand Governor? After all, this is a serious matter?"
Fan Jingwen hesitated for a while and then suggested cautiously in a low voice.
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter. Although this matter goes against the ancestral system, in troubled times, extraordinary measures should be taken. If we don't set heavy bait, how can we bring in the golden turtle?"
"Besides, after you have drafted the edict, there is no need to send it to you again. We will ask Wang Shoulin to go to the cabinet to find you then."
Fan Jingwen saw Zhu Yuanzhang's rare decisiveness, and Liu and Li heard it clearly. He was not afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang would not admit his fault afterwards, so he said no more, bowed respectfully, and left.
After Zhu Yuanzhang waited for Fan Jingwen to leave, he looked at Liu Wenbing and said, "Liu Qing, why did you come to the palace if you don't train the new army?"
Liu Wenbing bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have transferred five thousand new soldiers to Zhangyi Gate according to your Majesty's order. There are still about 12,000 soldiers, and I have come to ask for your order!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed when he heard this, and then asked worriedly: "Have those new soldiers been trained? You must know that fighting is no child's play."
"Especially because this battle is of great importance. If these new recruits are timid and cause a mutiny, all the previous efforts will be wasted."
Liu Wenbing said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, this recruitment went very smoothly. I recruited 10,000 troops by the end of Mao Shi, which is one hour longer than the originally expected training time."
"It's just that these people are new recruits after all, and their combat effectiveness will definitely not be too strong. However, if they are just defending the city, their abilities should be barely able to cope."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Okay, since you have been trained, let's go to the battlefield. After all, the battlefield is the place where people grow the fastest."
"The remaining people are temporarily under your command. Before receiving orders, they will continue to train and strengthen their actual combat capabilities."
Liu Wenbing was stunned for a moment and said in surprise: "Your Majesty, I recruited these people. You want me to take command directly?"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Didn't you ask us to command the troops last night? Why don't you dare to do so now?"
Upon seeing this, Liu Wenbing knelt down respectfully and said loudly: "I swear to defend the city to the death and never let down your majesty's trust."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Okay, time is tight, you go and deal with it quickly. After the rebels are defeated, we will discuss the merits and reward them."
Liu Wenbing bowed respectfully and then slowly withdrew.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Li Ruolian again and shouted: "Li Ruolian, do you know your guilt?"
When Li Ruolian heard this, he immediately knelt down and said: "The general is negligent regarding the price of rice. Please forgive me!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Okay, you are not confused. Although the responsibility for the rice price lies with the Ministry of Household Affairs, it is your dereliction of duty if the matter is reported to the Ministry of Household Affairs."
"Go check it out immediately. If you still can't find out where the rice merchant hid the grain within a quarter of an hour, you can come and see me!"
Li Ruolian said: "The matter has been investigated before the end of the world. Most of the rice merchants in the city hid the rice in the warehouses of several royal relatives headed by Tian Hongyu."
"Moreover, rice merchants have been discussing raising rice prices in the past few days, but because the wealthy households in Beijing have sufficient reserves, while most of the people are poor, they have not taken any action."
"It just so happened that His Majesty distributed military pay yesterday and ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to purchase grain. They felt that the time had come. After a secret discussion last night, they just raised the price today."
Zhu Yuanzhang heard this and asked: "Zhou Kui was not involved in this matter?"
Li Ruolian hesitated for a while and said: "Judging from the current evidence, although the state leader was not involved in this matter, he also stored a lot of grain in a warehouse in the capital, and many people knew about it... ..”
"What a bunch of rich and heartless dogs!"
After Zhu Yuanzhang cursed angrily, he asked again: "Can you find out the person behind it?"
Li Ruolian was stunned for a moment, and then said with a guilty look on his face: "The general is incompetent. He only found collusion between the rice merchants and the emperor's relatives, but not the person behind the scenes."
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "Li Qing, you have been deceived. No matter how poor the people in Beijing are, they always have to buy food, and they can afford it."
"They rice merchants haven't raised their prices for a long time, but they raised their prices just when we paid military salaries and the rebels were about to attack the city. Don't you think it's strange?"
When Li Ruolian heard this, his expression changed drastically and he asked in surprise: "Could it be that these rice merchants are colluding with the rebels?"
Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer his question, but asked again: "Has Ni Yuanlu seen any special people in the past two days?"
Li Ruolian thought for a moment and said, "Except for visiting the Fan Mansion yesterday with Mr. Li Banghua, the censor of Zuodu, Mr. Ni has been dealing with official business and has not seen anyone."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his expression changed and he said: "Immediately choose a trustworthy person, set out in two ways, covertly seize Zhou Kui's warehouse, and put him under house arrest to prevent his affairs from affecting the prince and the queen."
"The other group seized the warehouses of Tian Hongyu and others with great fanfare and arrested them all."
"If the people's dissatisfaction is too great, you can directly open the warehouse to release grain to calm the people's anger, and at the same time take them to the West Fourth Archway and behead them. There is no need to ask for a separate order."
Li Ruolian said with a surprised look on his face: "Even Lord Tian Hongyu will be beheaded?"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Behead, in addition, if Zhou Kui is also involved, or if his affairs are exposed and cause public outrage, he will also be beheaded!"
When Li Ruolian heard this, he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with some horror.
You must know that Tian Hongyu is the father of Chongzhen's favorite concubine Tian Guifei. Although Tian Guifei died young, her sister Tian Shuying is still in the palace. In addition, Chongzhen felt guilty about Tian Guifei's death and continued to reward Tian Hongyu.
And Zhou Kui is the biological father of the current queen and the prince's grandfather. Although he is vulgar and greedy, he is also the first among the royal relatives.
Li Ruolian suddenly heard that the two of them were going to be beheaded, and was immediately frightened.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice: "We also know that their crimes are not worthy of death, but in this critical moment, they can only take extraordinary measures."
After that, he asked someone to fetch a Shangfang sword, handed it to Li Ruolian himself, and solemnly said: "We will give you the Emperor's Sword. If you encounter anyone who resists, you can kill him first and then show him!"
Seeing his solemn expression, Li Ruolian knew that this matter was not trivial, so he took the sword respectfully and left quickly.
Not long after Li Ruolian left, Wang Jiayan hurriedly reported that there were a large number of rebels outside Yongding Gate, Chaoyang Gate, and Desheng Gate, and requested to send troops for support.
Based on Li Mou's confession and last night's analysis with Shen Zhanran and others, Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the rebels were most likely to break the city from the west and north.
At this moment, when he heard Wang Jiayan's report, he couldn't help but secretly cursed the rebels for their treachery.
Therefore, he transferred 5,000 people from Liu Wenbing to Wang Jiayan, and asked Wang Jiayan to lead 5,000 people to Deshengmen, taking care of Xizhimen and Andingmen at the same time.
And he took his personal guards and prepared to go to Yong'an Gate and Chaoyang Gate to check.
Unexpectedly, before he left the house, Zhang Qingzhen, the guard of Guangqumen, sent someone to report that the soldiers in Guangqumen were showing signs of mutiny due to rising food prices and the women and children at home had no food. He asked him to send troops to suppress it.
